Design and development of infrared turbidity sensor for Aluminium Sulfate coagulant process

Abstract

This paper presents on the design and development of infrared turbidity sensor for Aluminium Sulfate coagulant process. The electronic turbidity sensor operates based on the scattered light and absorption intensity with results to light scattering in solids and liquids. Natural environment is applied to this sensor to get the actual behavior of the water sample with NTU reading that is approximately similar to commercial sensor. Our turbidity sensor is created by a simple optical setup, which consists of (1) Infrared LED and (3) photodiode. The turbidity is determined by measuring the scattered Infrared LED light by the particles in the water sample and the absorption of light from the emitter. This project uses basic component and it is cost saving making it convenient for user. Conclusively, this electronic turbidity sensor can be used as part of a low-cost sensor to provide continuous turbidity information about water quality directly to consumers. Laboratory tests are conducted and it is proven that, the proposed device produced a comparable NTU reading as a commercial turbidity sensor. Other than that, electronic acquisition, signal conditioning and computing capabilities are included in the whole system.